Jamie Moore, the European light-middleweight champion, says it is "a
scandal" that he has not yet had a world title shot. He will move
closer to achieving his dream, though, with a convincing win over Ryan
Rhodes at the Bolton Arena on Friday night.

The 30 year-old, from Salford, defends his Commonwealth gong against Sheffield's Rhodes in a Battle of the Roses contest which is doubling up as an eliminator for the World Boxing Council light-middleweight title, held by Sergio Martinez.

Moore, with a record of 32 wins and three losses, has been frozen out of the limelight for two years, in the shadow of Ricky Hatton, Joe Calzaghe, David Haye and Amir Khan, through a combination of injuries and the 'politrix' of boxing's inner sanctum.

Nonetheless, after a fine victory over Italian Michele Piccirillo for the European title seven months ago, the southpaw is now ranked No 3 by the WBC, behind Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Kermit Cintron.

Moore said: "I'm just hoping that my performance against Rhodes [42 wins, four losses] sends a message to make them say 'What are we thinking?' At the very least I want them to put me in a final eliminator against Chavez Jr."

"There's no doubt he's improved but there's no way he warrants being No 1. It does grate with me but first and foremost I have to make sure I beat Ryan Rhodes impressively and then we'll think about pushing for it.

"It's all a bit political but it's the belt I've always wanted to go for, I think it carries the most prestige and hopefully I can fight for it in 2010."

If he is convincing, it should give promoter Frank Maloney the leverage to gain a WBC title shot. It would be the least Moore deserves, and would most likely involve going to the United States to earn the stripes.

Meanwhile Carl Froch's widely-debated defence of his World Boxing Council super-middleweight title against Andre Dirrell last Sunday, which he won by a split-points decision, will be shown on ITV1 on Saturday.